I'm streaking my hair pastel again. I did it a few months ago but without bleach. This time I'm going to bleach it before hand. I'm thinking Lavender would look great with my red-ish hair. I have to say this is rather addicting. I'd never really dyed my hair before and now I can't help but want to try lots more colors too!

__________________http://miss-rumphius.tumblr.com/ "It is ever so much easier to be good if your clothes are fashionable." Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

^I'm experimenting with some colors atm, too. Here are some of the purple-ish colors I've tried this month.

Stargazer Plume (diluted) x Directions Lavender

Stargazer Plume (diluted)

Directions Lavender x Stargazer Plume (very diluted)

Manic Panic Mystic Heather

(^This is my favorite)

And now I'm back to a bolder color: Stargazer Plume x Directions Dark Tulipmy pics

I've actually dyed the rest of my hair that was black a very dark red-purple but you can't see it in those pics.
Pastel hair is so much work! You need to re-dye every other day because it fades so quickly. And the hair needs to be soooo light to make it work. That's why I went for something darker. But I still plan on getting my hair cut to a shoulder length bob and go lavender all over in summer.

For the color in the last pic I mixed Stargazer plume (about 70%) with some Directions Dark Tulip (30%). You can mix all these colors very easily in a bowl to get the color you want. And if you put tons of conditioner into the bowl you can make the color a bit lighter and the dye will also fade much faster, if that's what you want. That's what I did to get the colors in pic 1 & 3.

That link almost made me cry. I only can choose between 4 suppliers, and within each I get a whole lot of 5 colours... Luckily, I'm good with colouring and always get the shade I want by mixing them, but it's still hard to pull off pastels unless it's when the original is washed away.

__________________sell crazy some place else, we're all stocked up here.

Fashionista.com has a beauty story up today about getting on the 'pink hair trend'. I'm going to try the backcombing+foil method next time I do it. I usually just fingerpaint my ends, but sometimes the color bleeds everywhere.

I just dyed my hair pink. It’s the perfect moment in fashion to do such a silly thing–we noticed the pink hair trend a few weeks ago and the Telegraph just did a piece on Charlotte Free, the pink-haired model who’s walked everywhere this season. So I decided to take the Pepto-Bismol plunge.

When people look at me quizzically, I’ve been telling them, “Oh, I did it for a story.” Just like Holly Millea, who is my beauty editor idol. (She’s the one who writes about her “Beauty Adventures” for Elle–she’s been practically maimed in the pursuit of beauty. I love her.) I’m lucky to have a job where such experimentation is allowed, nay, encouraged. But the truth is, I’ve always wanted to try pink hair. When Gwen Stefani had that pink 70s feathered ‘do, I was smitten. Now I finally had an excuse.

My long-time hair stylist, Misty, was up to the task. She has 20 years of experience at Aveda salons, and is a frequent dabbler in non-natural hair color herself. I trust her implicitly. When I saw a spread featuring a model with the softest cotton candy pink hair in this month’s Harper’s Bazaar, I emailed her: “Can you do this to my hair?” Her response: “Hell, yes! Make an appointment.” So I did.

I told Misty I wanted a soft baby pink, not shocking neon. And not on my whole head. Misty used Manic Panic in Cotton Candy Pink. In order for the color to take, you usually need to bleach or have very light hair to start with. My hair has a ton of blonde highlights and it’s very light, so no bleaching was necessary. Her one tip? “Don’t try to bleach your hair at home!”

She sectioned my hair, back combed the sections, painted the dye just on the ends, then wrapped each section in a foil. This would provide an ombre effect (and make it easy to chop off the pink ends in case I despised it). After she finished, I sat under a dryer for about 30 minutes. The dye was rinsed off in cold water–a must to make it last longer–and then Misty applied a custom-mixed gloss to seal it all and make it shiny.

I was warned that the color doesn’t last long–it’s the good news and bad news, I guess. The Manic Panic website tells you to rinse with a 1:1 vinegar/water solution, but I didn’t do that. Misty just told me not to wash my hair a lot and use color protecting shampoo. I’ve also heard that you can mix Manic Panic into conditioner to help the color last longer. I didn’t do that since only sections of my hair were colored.

On the first two days, the pink was brighter than I had expected and I was nervous. By day three it was perfect. It’s been a week, and it’s really faded a lot, now looking like pastel highlights. I’ve ignored the “don’t shampoo” edict, so maybe that’s why.

Me

Here’s what I learned while having pink hair:

-Even if you think all you wear is black, you’ll realize that you have a lot of color in your wardrobe. And it all looks tacky with pink hair.

-Forget about fuchsia or coral lipstick. I’ve been sticking to dramatic mascara and that’s about it.

-Be prepared for a lot of fake smiles.

-People who work at Starbucks will love your pink hair. I’ve received more compliments from random baristas than anyone else.

-Having pink hair at a semi-formal non-fashion event will cause the event’s photographers to want to take a lot of pictures of you. Because you’re the only one in the room with pink hair.

If you’re not a natural attention-seeker, it’s probably not a great idea to do this. Even in New York City, the land of freaks, I’ve been stared at a lot. So be ready to own it. But I loved this. One thing to check off the bucket list."

When people look at me quizzically, I’ve been telling them, “Oh, I did it for a story.”

I always use stupid excuses for my colored hair, too. Saying I did it because it's carnival time (even though I despise carnival and everyone knows) worked well this month, now I need a new one
Thanks for that article. Funny how she got all paranoid from having some cotton candy pink highlights. When my tips are dyed in baby pink people don't pay any attention to it at all, even though the contrast to the rest of my dark hair is huge. I get more funny looks when my hair is dark purple which I don't even find to look all that exotic.

^
Especially in New York. I dunno, some people are really self-conscious about it, but I've never gotten anything except compliments on my hair. It is true what she said in the blog about wearing color though. I usually put pink in my hair, and it makes every piece of brightly colored clothing I put on a total harajuku-girl sendup. No more teal. Goodbye green cashmere scarf, and so forth.